State and county officials said they thought it was ironic that five minutes after they finished a special drought meeting in the Monticello Courthouse, a cloudburst caused intense rain and hail to soak homes, cars, businesses, roads and the golf course Tuesday.
Residents of the sun-baked southeastern Utah town used their lunch hour rushing to detour rain and hail from spilling into basements and businesses.The storm system, which stretched across southern Utah, also hit Pueblo, Colo., bringing 3.5 inches of rain in one hour.
"Out of 7,884 square miles, a cloudburst on one square mile doesn't make a . . . lot of difference," San Juan County Commissioner Bill Redd said.
"This didn't end the drought - it didn't even make a very big dent," a San Juan County employee said. "It all came so fast, all it did was wash out gullies."
The National Weather Service received rainfall reports of 2.64 inches in 80 minutes, 2.3 inches in 60 minutes and 2 inches in 40 minutes. The Utah record for rainfall in an hour is 2.45 inches, recorded in Salt Lake City on July 12, 1992.
Monticello residents said they felt defenseless against the rain and hail that limited hearing and visibility for minutes at a time.
"I've had people tell me that they had to scream inside their cars even to hear each other because of the hail," said Paul Barr, resident of Monticello.
Scott Boyle, who recorded the rainfall for the National Weather Service said that after 20 minutes he measured .45 inches of rain - then the hail, accompanied by lightning, started. "It was hailing so hard it looked like a blizzard outside. My wife and I couldn't even see the house across the street," Boyle said. "I've spent some time in heavy rains in Japan and I can honestly say I've never seen it rain like that before."
Monticello city manager Trent Schafer said the mixture of rain and hail caved in sections of the San Juan County hospital roof.
Schafer also said a 4-foot-high hail drift was formed near the city's water treatment plant and that he and his street crew had to remove a piece of asphalt 20 feet by 50 feet.
"I guess it's pretty much feast or famine around here," Schafer said.
Weather service forecaster Bill Alder said the rain occurred between 12:05 p.m. and 1:25 p.m. with the heaviest rain falling in about an hour. The storm was small, hitting only three miles north and south of Monticello.
Street crews tried to prevent flooding in basements and businesses, but they "simply couldn't control that kind of water."